Assamese news bulletin tops AIR chart

GUWAHATI, March 26: The small staff of the Audience Research Unit (ARU) at the All India Radio (AIR) station here is engaged in an uphill task everyday. Having to go through at least 4,000 letters from its audience per month on an average and categorizing them into various headings is not an enviable task at any moment of time. Yet the staff members are not complaining even though they have to cope with several other responsibilities like researches from time to time on their own in addition to skimming through the letters. "It is a strenuous task to read each and every letter from readers and note their contents in headings like appreciation for programmes, criticisma, requests for a certain programmes, queries systematically for future reference meticulously," said officials. Based on these surveys, sources said that peak radio listening time has been found to be in between 8 to 9 in the morning with 80 per cent listenership in rural areas and 60 per cent in urban localities on any given day. This tapers to a very low average from 2 to 4 in the afternoon but picks up to a new high again from 6 to 8 in the evening. Sources added that the evening and morning 'regional news' bulletin in Assamese is at the top of the popularity chart followed by programmes based on music. Assamese letters far outnumber letters received in other languages. On an average Assamese letters number about more than half the total letters received every month. Also, letters received in Bodo, Karbi and Nepali which enjoy a good percentage of the total can't be read due to lack of staff knowing these languages.